Santa Cruz County law would ban racist and discriminatory 911 calls – Santa Cruz Sentinel

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SANTA CRUZ – Seeking to deter unwarranted racially motivated 911 calls, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart is seeking support from county officials to ban the practice.

The Santa Cruz County Supervisory Board on Tuesday will consider the first reading of an order to make illegal the practice of reporting a suspected crime to law enforcement “only to discriminate against the person” in the absence of any threat or real harm.

Current state law prohibits hate crimes and false police reports, both of which can be punishable as criminal activity. The local ordinance would go a little further.

If approved, the ordinance can go to a final vote as early as September 28 and go into effect a month later.

In a report to the supervisory board, Hart described emergency reports that were based solely on the race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity of those targeted. as “a real public safety problem”. In particular, the report mentions calls to 911 that are knowingly made and unjustified.

It is still unclear how prevalent these practices were locally, as no county calling statistics were available on Monday. However, the board of directors in August 2020 voted unanimously to declare racism a public health crisis in Santa Cruz County. At the time, the resolution called on all county departments to “integrate educational efforts to combat and dismantle racism.” Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz County strategic plan, “Vision Santa Cruz,” calls for the enactment of legal measures that “protect members of the public from harm caused by false reporting of racist crimes and that promote safety. global public ”.

“Although there has been no increase in the local cases that we are seeing, there are cases where we have seen it in recent years,” the spokesperson for the office of the Sheriff, Ashley Keehn. “We want to move forward to make sure our community knows this is not something we will tolerate.”

Hart’s report cited high-profile cases that caught national media attention. Other municipalities, he wrote, have taken action to address discriminatory and racial emergency reporting practices, including San Francisco’s 2020 “CAREN Act” (Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencys) and similar efforts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to Hart’s report. to the blackboard.

“When a person deliberately racially profiles an individual in the community with the intention of infringing on a person’s right to live their life and to go about their business, it is extremely damaging and dangerous to the community. individual to be reported and divert a crucial time from the response. deputies to deal with real emergencies, ”indicates the report on the agenda.

Hart’s report went on to note that such misuse of law enforcement “may further deteriorate the relationship between the community and the police … cause serious harm to the person falsely accused of a crime and add pressure. useless on the police who respond to frivolous and unfounded appeals ”.

The proposed law would give victims of such discrimination the opportunity to prosecute their false accusers in court, where judges could impose fines of up to $ 1,000, plus attorney’s fees and the costs of the action. .

IF YOU ARE GOING TO

What: Santa Cruz County Supervisory Board meeting.

When: 9 a.m., Tuesday.

Where: 701 Ocean St., Room 525 and online.

At issue: Draft ordinance prohibiting discriminatory relations with the police.

Access: Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/84078327816, Call: 669-900-6833; Webinar number: 840 7832 7816.

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